New York Scenes

Author: anthonychen715 (Page 1 of 2)

Review at the Met

December 7, 2015 / / 0 Comments

As I walked through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gaping at gargantuan sculptures and carvings from Southern and Eastern Asia, I had an urge to head, once again, to the European art exhibit. As I passed through many lively works of landscapes, biblical imagery, and portraits, the group of paintings that made me halt to a stop was Peter Paul Ruben’s exhibition. Indeed, this is the central characteristic of Ruben’s work, his figures seem as though they were imbued with life and emotion the moment his brush touched a canvas.

Particularly striking was the Flemish painter’s Wolf and Fox Hunt ca. 1615-21. The oil painting creates a vibrant, violent situation that engenders the viewer’s appreciative awe, yet hesitance in approaching it because of its realism. In addition, the painting’s vast proportions, at 8 feet by 12.3 feet, truly took me into a moment of historical fantasy, as if I was actually within the work of art itself. The immediate focus of Ruben’s Wolf and Fox Hunt for me was the clash of the point of a spear with the teeth of a snarling wolf. Amongst all the impending thrusts of more spears and the frightened trampling of two horses, the central conflict in the heat of the moment is the grind of teeth and the metal. The standing wolf, seems to embody human qualities, as it defies his own imminent death by attempting to grab the spear and break it with its canines. Although diminutive compared to its surrounding opponents, its venomous, infuriated demeanor, and serpentine twist of the body produces a violent aura I have never seen prior in paintings.

The unfolding battle also produces a sense of sympathy for the victims: the wolves and the foxes. The united force of animals inevitably face death as they are surrounded by an onslaught of merciless hunters. A man’s head within the center of the violence blows a trumpet as if to highlight the moment as a sacrificial ritual. The second wolf that staggers besides its companion, anticipates the sudden mauling by two dogs. It is as if it is trying to protect the corpse of a dead comrade. Another feeling of empathy gained from this piece is when an injured fox tries futilely to prevent one of the horses from moving by grabbing at its hoof with one paw. The overall actions by the animals and the hunters cannot help but produce a sense of courage and unfortunate sadness that befalls them.

Ruben’s piece is also intriguing because the skirmish within the painting happened in a cleared landscape. It is unusual that such predatory creatures would be subject to a brutal ambush as depicted in the scene. In addition, the ground shifts from barren soil to the green of the grass and forest into the far distance. The angle of the battle in which it was painted at also plays an important role for the viewer. The cloudy sky fills up more than half of the background, which produces an illusion that the figures are bigger than normal, thus further making the situation more life-like. Although Rubens painted this work during the early 17th century, the positioning of the white horse uncannily resembles the well-known revolutionary imagery of Napoleon or that of George Washington on their white stallions. The colors that Ruben uses also creates a conspicuous division of tones at the center of the painting. On the right side contains the majestic white horse with its rider that attempts to “purify” the darker toned “evils” or the foxes and wolves located on the left side.

Another one of Ruben’s paintings that seized my attention was his A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt ca 1635. At first I thought the image was a pitch black night scene because of the dimly lit exhibition room, but as I moved closer I began to see a faint light of a sunset between two twisted trunks, and the intricately painted branches of trees. As I analyzed the shadowy forest ground, it soon became decorated with many dried leaves, and a few frolicking deer appeared. The entire painting soon embodied a sense of a change in light and darkness, which is prevalent in many of Ruben’s works. It also symbolized a cycle of life and death or growth and decay in that the dying leaves would provide nourishment for the surrounding soil and further benefit the ecosystem. The change in sunlight also presents a renewal of daily life after darkness fades.

Many of Ruben’s other works also contained the motif of forest backgrounds, as well as light contrasting with darkness to draw the viewer’s eyes to various portions of his paintings with one glance. The clothing that he painted flowed and wrinkled on the individuals’ bodies. Other paintings also contained references to Roman mythology, such as with the goddess Venus, and Christianity. The figures within these works displayed life-like gestures and poses. What struck me as fascinating was Ruben’s exhaustive work on his figures’ hands. They seemed well in sync with each character’s persona due to the differentiated tones and texture of their skin.

Ruben’s masterpieces entice the viewer to turn their heads immediately after glimpsing the work within their peripheral vision. As you approach some of his pieces you begin to see life-like representations, the spirit of his art, and the figures that suddenly appear as though they were summoned by our own imagination. He presents mythical or unusual situations that allows the viewer to ponder deeply. Most of all, some pieces of his work seem to send a more personal message to the audience for them to formulate through the symbols and actions he portrays. There is no doubt that his artistic vision and legacy will shape you as you come across his canvases.

Black Dance Origins and Modern Evolution

November 10, 2015 / / 5 Comments

Kyle Abraham

The Harlem Renaissance was the birthplace of black dance and music in that it became a place where both black and white New Yorkers brought together dance and music that was enthralling and lively. Not only did dances such as the Charleston, Lindyhop, and the Jitterbug come from these areas, but also Jazz music. Because of the Harlem Renaissance, its influence in music and dance in the 1920s spread later on to Europe.

It was disheartening to see sometimes black dancers such as Josephine Baker as not popular in America during her time period because of racial tension that continued to marginalize the form of art. However, through time, black dancers continued to progress their artistic movement, and eventually Buddy Bradley became the first African-American  to run a British white company.

It is interesting to see that Kyle’s Abraham’s approach to black dance is one that is influenced by  hip-hop culture of the late ’70s, and its goal is to delve into identity in relation to a personal history. His works are inspired by historical events such as the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in “The Watershed” and the 20th anniversary of the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa in “When the Wolves Came In. ” Abraham currently wants “The Watershed” to give the audience thoughts about what the gains and losses that we’ve had. “When the Wolves Came In” has a ceremonial vibe, but is really about perception, race, and identity.

Abraham admits to the interviewer that being a choreographer, it’s hard for him to tell stories that aren’t too abstract to the audience. When the audience sees a black man and a black woman, or a black man with a white man there is immediately politics involved in the situation. Abraham brings into question the racial tension that exists in modern day society that not only permeated from historically influenced plays. According to him during the Watershed scene, the audience feels tension as two black men dance intimately while a white man cuts a watermelon in half. His artwork brings light to our current expectations of certain scenarios, and hopes that we can make sense of them. He tries to incorporate many different sources into his works of dance. Indeed according to him, he is “drawing a line between history and a contemporary aesthetic as well.”

Turandot Review

October 28, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Turandot was a very  striking play for many people especially me. I immediately felt the tension and violence that would unfold after reading that Princess Turandot wanted her male suitors to answer her three riddles correctly. Her disappointment at Prince Calaf’s correctness, I thought was very selfish. She took that opportunity as a way to kill someone innocent.

Calaf’s courage and determination to chase after someone so cruel was indeed very shocking. Most of all, he ignored the slave girl, Liu’s hints of appreciation for to not risk his life. Because of Liu’s bravery, she not only helped change Turandot’s overall demeanor at the end of the play, but became a central martyr figure.

Liu died to protect someone’ else’s love and well-being, which she could not gain herself, which was very gripping and sorrowful. It also brings to attention to the audience what true love means, rather than a false appearance of beauty. Turandot’s selfishness really generated contempt from the audience, which shifted dramatically at the end when she reveals that Calaf’s name is “Love.”

I feel that in the end, Princess Turandot finally came to her senses to be a respectable human being. But it costed the sleeplessness, and death of essential people. Overall, this play was very intriguing, and kept the pace of the tension moving forward until the very end.

Breaking Barriers with a Ballet

October 15, 2015 / / 3 Comments

Within its 346 year history, the Paris Opera Ballet hired its first Chinese dancer. Lam Chun-wing was a 19 year old from Hong Kong’s suburbs. His entry into the state-financed company is a dramatic change, since more than 90 percent of the dancers are French. But every great achievement is not without hard work and making the most of every opportunity.

Lam Chun-wing, right, dancing in April in ‘‘Aunis’’ at the Ballet School of the Paris Opera Ballet.

Mr. Lam grew up in an apartment with 5 other relatives, and started taking dance lessons at age 7. His ambition to become a professional dancer later took hold when he was 11. However, he couldn’t find a good male ballet teacher, so he had to go to the Guangzhou Ballet School during school holidays. In an annual dance event with the top students, the grande dame of the territory’s ballet teachers, Ms. Wong, noticed his talent and ideal body proportions. Ms. Wong later sent a DVD of Mr. Lam’s dancing to the Ballet School at the Paris Opera Ballet in 2011. He admitted as the first Chinese dancer to the academy.

Mr. Lam in ‘‘Don Quixote’’ at the Hong Kong Cultural Center in August

Interest for his talents grew, and Mr. Lam was invited to Paris for a private addition. His move to France, to develop his career, was encouraged by his parents even though most families in Hong Kong pushed children into traditional careers.

Mr. Lam’s rise in position came when he was a replacement for a production of Jean-Guillaume Bart’s “La Source.” His professional debut became a success even though the scene was a technically difficult one. He was able to dance with a “very polished technique, and was quick and fit” according to Benjamin Millepied, the Paris Opera’s dance director. Mr. Millepied embraced the notion of diversity to the Paris Opera because of the importance of representing  community as a 21st-century company.

Indeed, Mr. Lam became a hometown hero because he was the first in his occupation. Although he received much acclaim, Mr. Lam was very shy. Mr. Lam revealed he is proud, and happy, but most of all he was relieved, which shows his humble nature. Even though he was homesick, constantly worrisome, and nervous, Mr. Lam persevered through the struggles and not only made a name for himself, but became a trailblazer in his unremitting dream.

A Belated Recognition of the “Female Sargent”

October 5, 2015 / / 6 Comments

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun Self-Portrait

Despicable forms of unjustifiable prejudice and ignorance occurs all around us, and it is something we can not change permanently. That is the case of an “obscure” artist, Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun. Roderick Conway Morris’s article Vigée Le Brun: A Delayed Tribute to a French Trailblazer, insightfully brings to attention the artwork by this successful female painter who suffered as an “object of envy and the target of vitriolic, often misogynistic libels in the anti-establishment press during the years leading up to the French Revolution.” Her work has been salvaged in the last few decades and valuable research was carried out in the rediscovery process.

What was interesting about her monographic exhibition of 160 works that will start in Paris, then to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and finally the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, is that the narration of her artwork drew on the contemporary documents and her “Memoirs,” written between 1825 and 1837. So it not only gives the audience their perspective on her work, but also what she endured through her time period to generate a better understanding.

Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun has an uncanny resemblance as a portraitist, and lifestyle to John Singer Sargent in that her parents, especially her father pushed her to come into contact with the art world. It is notable that her father, a pastel artist, Louis Vigor declared “You will be a painter, my child, if ever there was one.” At the age of 12, the burgeoning artist lost her father and first teacher to a “botched medical operation,” and her mother was forced by economic circumstances to remarry to a man her daughter came to detest. She was later encouraged by her mother to pursue her art education to distract herself from her unhappiness. By the time she was 15, Louise had her own studio, which attracted an augmenting prestigious series of sitters. However, the financial rewards went to her avaricious stepfather, who appropriated the fees she was paid.

Vigée Le Brun’s portrait of Varvara Ivanovna Ladomirskaya (1800).

Later around 1776, Louise married Jean-Baptiste Pierre Le Brun, an artist and picture dealer, who turned out to be a “philanderer, addicted to gambling and prostitutes,” and also took her earnings. Although she had to struggle in such a filthy environment, her husband’s own professional expertise and collection of old masters and prints helped Louise to expand her artistic horizons and perfect her painting techniques.

A portrait of the Duchess of Polignac (1782), by Vigée Le Brun.

Soon, as Louise’s fame grew, she became a  quasi-official, and extremely well-paid, court artist. However, the artist’s privileged position at court, in particular, “exposed her to increasingly scurrilous accusations, among them that her rise was entirely thanks to her sexual charms and that she did not even paint her own pictures.” Fearing the dangers of possible arrest and execution, Louise later fled to Italy, and was exiled for 12 years from  France. Surprisingly, these years were highly productive. According to Morris, “In the majestic procession of portraits from this period she  fully manifests her sheer brilliance as a colorist and her ability to convey not just the beauty but the erotic magnetism of some of her sitters.”In addition, her travels inspired her to make hundreds of landscapes in pastels and oils.

Indeed, Louise, much like Sargent, was truly “married to her art.” She even wrote in her “Memoirs”: “The passion for painting was innate in me. This passion has never diminished; indeed, I believe it has only increased with time. Moreover, it is to this divine passion that I owe not only my fortune but also my happiness.” Such a painter suffered through so many obstacles in life, but persevered through in the determination and dedication to what she loved. However, beyond the rise from her struggle, Louise’s story brings to attention that society should not criticize and diminish an individual’s brilliance because of his or her gender. Because of what her own French brethren did to her, she was forgotten until now.

Lady Hamilton

Spring Awakening Response by Achen

October 4, 2015 / / 6 Comments

After reading this play, I was shocked by Frank Wedekind’s introduction of controversial subjects such as homosexuality and rape. The events of Wendla’s tragic death from an abortion, Moritz’s suicide from the disturbance of greater knowledge of his sexuality and failure to keep up in school, and Melchior’s departure from social norms caused him to be incarcerated into a reformatory, all progressed quickly throughout the play. The climatic moment was during Wendla’s rape, in that Melchior tried to assert his masculine dominance  by performing the  cruel act.  The overall play left a sinister tone of despair in the end when Melchior hints at committing suicide as well.

What really came to me in the end was that everything including the adolescents’ fates could have been changed if they had more knowledge about sex, instead of parental repression and strict societal norms to keep it taboo. I think that it is rather more responsible to let children know about what occurs to their bodies and changing outlook in life, rather than suppress it and let them become curious to the point that they are harmed in the process. The moral of this play also brought back memories of The Catcher In The Rye, in that Holden realizes that he cannot fully protect the innocence of the children around him, so it is best and a natural part of their lives that they will experience the injustices and dark side of the world.

Even though this play originated way back in 1891, its repercussions to audiences around the world can still be felt. It brings to attention how important it is to recognize and express our sexuality in our world. How our bodies develop, and who we are attracted to was treated as a taboo subject in the past, but society has changed. We no longer have to be stuck within an inner closet because of  fear of exposing our sexual orientation. Part of being human is experiencing mistakes, and nevertheless Wedekind’s play illustrates this in dramatic fashion. His play allows us to reflect and be “inspired” in a grotesque way.

 

Achen Response2

September 10, 2015 / / 5 Comments

As Brehmer profoundly points out, “Portraiture is the only art form that exists out of a dependency on human exchange and models the struggles and pleasures of human relationships as a subtext to its surface desire to represent.” Indeed, portraits encapsulate a moment in time forever such as Picasso’s portrait of Getrude Stein.  Life is short for humankind, but any photograph or artwork may capture the special quality and aura during an important time period that defines the individual and his surroundings. It may not tell us the whole truth, but it is enough to engage the viewer to ponder deeply on his or her characteristics. What I also took from Brehmer’s Every Portrait Tells a Lie, is that time is a precious commodity, especially in the modern era. Students have to manage their time wisely for exams, occupations, and social life. Athletes and artists alike must spend a majority of their career perfecting their talents to strive for greatness. Time will never stop, but portraits allow us to look back and reflect upon the moments that we cherish.

Casper Goodrich by Sargent

In Sarah Churchwell’s How John Singer Sargent made a scene, many more interesting facts about Sargent were revealed. Some of the more striking qualities about him is that he liked to do many activities while he painted great works such as walking around for “four miles” from his model and easel, and playing the piano or tennis. He also tried to capture en plein air, the transient quality of “fugitive evening light” when he painted. I felt this is similar to how Frans Hals painted when he was drunk. It is really interesting how certain cues in the surroundings of an artist sparks even greater landscapes of creativity. What was unnerving about Sargent’s life was how society critiqued him after spending much thought and imagination into  his masterpieces. Sargent was also “married” in a sense to his artistic ability and painting, and it was depressing how he did not maintain any stable relationships. His personal life seemed to be very mysterious, and many of his private papers were destroyed. His own self-portrait seems to generate ambition and a headstrong demeanor.

Anthony Chen’s Reading Response

September 9, 2015 / / 5 Comments

John Singer Sargent

In John Singer Sargent’s biography, he had a unique family background, who supported, and helped nourish his  potential for art. Although his parents were American, he himself was born as a European, and traveled abroad to Spain, Holland, and Venice to gain inspiration from works by others. Through time and dedication, he received recognition for his work from England to the United States. What I feel is interesting about his style is that he was influenced by Carolus-Duran to paint immediately rather than make rough sketches first. In the Drawing and Painting classes that I have taken, the teacher has always told us to first do preliminary sketches.

Fumée d’Ambre Gris

The painting, Fumée d’Ambre Gris (The Smoke of Ambergris), drew my attention because it was a cosmopolitan form of description that reached out to the viewer. You have the feeling you are looking  at a piece of Moorish architecture because of the pillars, a woman with asiatic and middle-eastern style attire, and most of all, the embroidery and intricacy on the rugs and pottery makes you feel as though you are in a royal setting. 

According to Henry James in “Picture and Text,” his paintings such as Young Lady in Black have  striking characteristics in which it appears to be simple, yet overflows with perfection. Sargent also had many other diverse influences in his work such as his portrait, Madame X encompassed the style of Edourad Manet and Japanese prints. As James indicates, Sargent takes artistic risk in his paintings because of his curiosity and creativity, which I find brilliant.  After analyzing many of his other paintings I also feel that Sergeant puts a lot of effort into his female portraits and paints them with a sense of surreal intensity.   

 

Madame X

I also felt some injustice when his best known piece received criticism because of his indifference to pose, modeling, and spacial treatment. Although Sargent was a nonconformist in the arts during his time period, his lack of symmetrical balancing allows the viewer to take in the work as a whole. Indeed, diverting from what is deemed “normal” and “socially-accepting” during his time period was a gutsy move, and furthermore shows his values and creativity. What was most striking to me was when Sargent changed from being a portraitist and muralist to a watercolorist in his later years. His watercolor paintings seem to be more chiseled in strokes, compared to his crisp oil paintings. 

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