Author Archives: John Sorrentino

About John Sorrentino

I am a PhD candidate in French Literature at the CUNY Graduate Center. I currently work as an instructional technology fellow at the Macaulay Honors College of CUNY.

Posts by John Sorrentino

A Resting Place of Prisoners

by: Cindy Wang, Emmanuel Khodra, and Isabella Joseph


We analyzed the subject matter and the formal elements of the painting. However, we were not able to discuss the historical context of the piece. We would have liked to explore the artist’s biographical context.
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Fallen Bierdasdt

by: Ofir Shalom, Sarah Ginsberg, Shirly Shoshan


We did a historical analysis. We didn’t do much of art analysis of the paintings. if we had more time we would’ve focused on the technique of the artist
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Fallen Bierstadt by Valerie Hegarty

by: Michelle Bensadigh, Leah Azizian, Rena Pinkhasov.


We generally started our analysis by looking at the physical features of the artwork followed by the symbolic meaning of what the artwork represents or is trying to convey. We also analyzed the historical background and perspective of that time period behind the artwork.
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The Wolf Man of Brooklyn

by: Kevin Behnke, Lynette Lewis, Liam Stamm-Walsh


At the Brooklyn Museum, our group wandered around aimlessly, until we saw “The Wolf Within.” We were immediately blown away by this sculpture, which we felt truly captured one facet of human emotion. Our analysis that night relied heavily on the pure physical of this piece. There were many little details that we noticed, like the war paint on his face, and the half-tucked, half untucked shirt, all of which we speculated what symbolic meaning it could possibly embody. In addition, we tied in cultural references (e.g “The Wolf of Wall Street” film) that came to mind when examining this work of art. We didn’t however, discuss more formal properties, like the marble and bronze utilized, or the art form of sculpting in general. If we had more time, we would most certainly discuss the aforementioned properties, in addition to the “1986” that appears not only in the “Wolf Within”, but in practically all of Faile’s other works as well. As a group, we would also like to examine the sculpture’s placement in the Museum too: why was one entire floor dedicated to Faile? Did he makes these works specifically for the Museum? In short, there are many questions we still have, and if we had more time, we would most certainly strive to find answers.
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A Storm on the Rocky Mountains

by: Kelly Theodorakis, Tirza Lehrfield, Sara Beardsley


At the museum, we focused on the actual image – what we saw, the details in the painting, the sunlight and dark shadows. We also discussed the historical context in the creation of the painting. We did not discuss the purpose why this picture was painted, what the artist’s intent was in creating this image, and who the audience was supposed to be. If we had more time, we probably would’ve talked more about why it was in the museum and why it was a significant work of art at the time that it was created.
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Shipwrecked

by: Ashanay Allen, Vickie Savvides, Sophia Tsilerides


After filming our video, we were able to hone our understanding of the painting itself, extract the painter’s ideas from his work, find commonality between his work and many others that share the maritime landscape and conclusively, establish the themes of the painting. The aspect of “Man vs. Nature” depicts the forces that the ship underwent, man losing to the force of the waves. This loss is furthered by the worry exhibited on the faces of the men. In the end, man succumbs to the natural forces and in turn, must plan his next move thoughtfully. Our video captures this constant battle by zeroing in on the expressions of the three men in relation to the damage of the ship as well as the power of the waves. In relation to the other works of this exhibit, a contradiction was noted. While this painting showed men in distress over nature, many of the works instead praised nature and its effects. Additionally, we were able to analyze the strokes of the brush as we examined the imagery, paying attention to the dynamic, bold, colors that enveloped the vast wide water, and the overpowering skyline. From the vivid imagery, we came to the conclusion that Birch’s mission was to capture the ill fate of man at the hands of the natural world.
If we had more time, we would focus in more on the analyses that we did not quite invest more development on, such as a representation of the time period, the painter’s background and views, and the inspiration for the work of art.
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A Discussion on “Foundering” by James Hamilton

by: Peter Fields, Vanessa El-Kallassy


(FOURTH AND FINAL UPLOAD ATTEMPT)
In this conversation we focussed mainly on the subject matter. We analyzed the meaning of the ship and the flag within the historical context in which this work was painted. We also did formal analysis of the painting, how dark and gloomy it is, and how the specific details within the painting relate to this theme. However, we did not do as much formal analysis as we would of liked to. Had we more time, we would have analyzed more the relationship between foreground and background, the indiscriminate framing of the picture, and the use of horizontal and vertical lines.
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A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie by Albert Bierstadt

by: Mary McAuley, Vanessa Uribe


At the museum, we did a subject analysis of the painting, based largely on the aesthetics and paid particular attention to detail. We also focused a lot on the historical context of the piece. We did not do a formal analysis, as we did not have enough time to do so. If we had more time, we would likely have delved deeper into the piece and focused more on the composition of the painting, in addition to the subject matter.
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Two Ivans and Oksana

by: Olivia Brown and Zuzanna Osiecka


During our conversation at the museum, we started with formal analysis, discussing the diagonal in the painting, as well as the brushstrokes, color scheme, and tone. We then analyzed the content of the painting, noting the relationship between the man in the painting (the focus) and the children, who were likely his. We then discussed the historical period in which the painting was created, which was Soviet Russia. It was celebrating May 9th, which was the Soviet release from Nazi Germany.
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Late Afternoon, New York, Winter

by: Lucy Lin, Jeanne Jin, Carmen Yeung, Peter Yang


As we analyzed Frederick Hassam’s late afternoon, New York, Winter, we were stunned at the details Hassam employed in conveying the ambiance of a New York winter. Though purposefully blurry and hazy, the artist was still able to show movement and a feeling of hurriedness. Through our experience at the Brooklyn museum, we learned to notice details and dissect a piece of art for what it really is
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