The Stewart Mansion

The top picture shows Hassam’s painting of the A. T. Stewart Manision, built in 1869. The mansion once sat on the northwest corner of 34th St. and 5th Ave. and was home to the Manhattan Club from 1890 to 1899. The building was, however, torn down between 1902 and 1904. Today the corner has a Duane Reade pharmacy on the ground level of a skyscraper. It is also just across the street from the Empire State Building.

My photograph is not completely accurate in angle, but in both pictures the vanishing point is off the image to the far left. The lines the sidewalk forms are close and I included a bit of the closer sidewalk, as in the foreground of the painting. I had to fiddle with the angle at which I held my phone as well as the amount of zoom in order to get the photo close to the original. I believe I could have gotten it closer but I would have needed to be in the street where cars were parked. The area has changed drastically from when Hassam painted it, most of the historical buildings being torn down and replaced with large skyscrapers. The area appears just as bustling as in the painting, however, because it is now a tourist hot spot.

childehassam

Although Hassam’s painting of the Brooklyn Bridge and my photo do differ slightly in perspective and angle, they do match in many ways. Both pictures contain the double arch is off to the right, the vanishing point is in about the same place, a group of people walking, and two lamp posts. Hassam may have been standing a little farther back when he painted this, and the time of day was different as well as the season. Also, when Hassam painted the bridge, there were no cables and no white line painted down the center, separating a bike lane and pedestrian lane. Otherwise, the two depictions match fairly well.

Hassam Assignment

Lower Manhattan (Broad and Wall Streets), 1907

Broad and Wall

Lower Manhattan (Broad and Wall Streets), 2009

While slightly varied in perspective and dimensions, the picture I took matches Hassam’s painting because both are of the same street, featuring as a main landmark the New York Stock Exchange. The vanishing point in both images is somewhere behind the building at the next corner with the columns. In both images the viewer can see not quite three columns on that building in front of the vanishing point. Hassam’s point of view while painting would probably have been up higher, as the painting features mostly the tops of people’s heads, while mine includes their faces. The artist may also have been standing further back. Right now a great deal of construction and scaffolding occupies the place where he probably stood. Sunlight graces the intersection in his painting, as well, creating another difference. His view of the Stock exchange also lacked the classic elegance of September 2009’s Budweiser advertisement.

Washington Arch

Washington Arch, Spring
Washington Arch, Spring (Hassam, 1890)
washington square, spring (with a modern twist)
Washington Arch, September 2009

The two images are of Washington Arch in Washington Square Park. Both were taken along Fifth Avenue at one of the entrances to the park. The perspectives are slightly varied; Hassam was probably standing further away and had a more encompassing view. The times of the images are different as well. Hassam did this painting during spring, while I photographed it in September. It is seen in the differences of the trees; they are just in bloom in the spring, therefore they are more bare, while the photograph has a larger tree, as well as some grass behind the fence. However, there are similarities as well, such as the colors (greens, blues, greys), people (showing the bustling city streets) and the same architecture (the arch, the street, the landscape).

Brooklyn Bridge

The two pictures match because they are both pictures of the same place (The Brooklyn Bridge). Although the picture I took is a slightly more zoomed in then the painting, it is taken from the same angle and  has the same vanishing point. In both pictures you can see two pairs of arches. The street lights are also in the same exact positions in the two pictures. In the Hassam painting the walkway appears wider then in the picture I took and you can’t see any background buildings.

Self Portrait

– Art in my opinion signifies the expressive ability to perform, write, paint, sketch, photograph, etc. Art is a relative term, but this is somehow the beauty of it. Although an article can be a form of art to one, it may be something entirely different to another. Although it is a three letter word it encompasses singing, dancing, music playing, painting, sketching, building, sculpting, writing, and even cooking. Art is a means of conveying one love for an ability or specialty from whatever you are imagining to an audience.

1. My favorite form of art is music. I love jazz, and am not afraid to say it. Although many of this generation have their own stereotypes of jazz, most of them are uneducated judgments. I have been playing an instrument for 5 years now and at first played the baritone horn for 2 years. Later on, I switched and stuck to the trombone-although i can still play the other. Music has been around for millenia, dating back to early attempts at speech. Music, to me, allows those who are playing to say what they cant say in words, in melodies and backgrounds. It can create and destroy, and although in modern times the business of music is a negative one, there are still musicians out there whose skill in unheard of and will eventually make a better face for this art of music.

2. In the history that I am knowledgeable of, I would have to say that my favorite period is the Swing Era. Jazz was extremely main stream, and was the “cool” thing in its day. Everyone enjoyed it. Musicians made huge names for themselves and were the “rockers” of today back then. It was a time when although jazz was going into its approximately third decade of existence, it began to really emerge as a national American enjoyment that appealed to many social classes.

3. Academically, I’d have to say my strengths exist within the fields of science. I love biology, chemistry, and physics. History plays into my strengths as well, as I extremely fond of American and World History. My non-academic strengths lay in my music, acting and singing that I have done throughout High School, and even dancing as well. I play soccer, wrestling, handball, and weight train throughout the year as well.

4. Personally, I feel very comfortable with new technology. I know that many people at first feel intimidated and lost with new forms of technology-and I do believe that is normal- but to me I love delving into it, even if it means getting a little lost. These new Macs and operating on the e-portfolio did prove a bit confusing for me for a week, but after convincing myself to stop using my PC laptop, I have actually found it intriguing and fun.

5. My writing skills have always been mediocre. It, of course, is dependent on what interests me and why I am writing. There are certain topics i know I am not going to be able to extensively write about, whereas other ones that appeal to me allow me to write for hours. I don’t and will never consider myself any kind of writer. However, i feel I am confident enough to write for someone than for myself. I am better organizing ideas for others than my own.Photo 3

Dear Students,

Your mandatory workshops are coming up soon.

Please register for the mandatory tech fair Common Events.  The site can be found at http://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/techfair/.

You have a choice of attending a Meet the Artist event instead of one of the after hours free events listed for our class.   please RSVP on the website ( http://macaulay.cuny.edu/academics/seminar1/).  Space is limited and filling up quickly.  So if you would like a specific event speed is of the essence.  Thanks.


Blackboard

Please take a moment to check that the email that you are using for Blackboard is one that you are regularly checking. To do so, just log in to Blackboard and click “Update your Email” on the left. Prof. Weinroth will be posting your grades on Blackboard and may use it to send you messages from time to time, so you want to make sure it’s functioning for you.

Since I have no access to your course Blackboard, I’m unable to give you assistance beyond basic instructions. Please consult the Hunter IT helpdesk if you are facing any issues with Blackboard.

Also, I’d like to remind you to change the display name on your Dashboard so that Prof. Weinroth can keep track of who’s posting what. Here’s how.

Enjoy your weekend!

The Artist Historical perspective

This week you will look at Paintings and photographs of New York either from our visit at the City Museum of New York or from  Hassam impressions of New York City on our website. Check your reading list for the Historical Perspectives Topic.  You will then go to the field (i.e. New York City streets) and find the spot where the artist stood to paint the picture. You will take a photograph with your camera, your phone, or your computer and post it on the web along side the original painting and explain to us why the two match. You may use what you learned about perspective such as the distance, size of the object, vanishing points, and also your forensic knowledge, in reconstructing the past in a new modern environment. If the paintings on this site do not appeal to you, you may go to another museum and take a picture of another painting you wanted to research.

The physical locations of the paintings by Hassam are:

At the Metropolitan museum: (There are 2 on the second floor in the America wing)

http://www.metmuseum.org/search/iquery.asp

At the City of New York Museum:

http://www.mcny.org/shop/76/202/7865/bethesda-fountain-central-park.html

At New York Historical society:

http://emuseum.nyhistory.org

You can also consult a book

Hassam’s New York by Ilene Susan Fort  see the pictures in our Gallery .

Self Portrait

1. Art is a way for one to freely express his or herself. Art has to limitations beyond the artists imagination and creativity. Art is the ultimate form of expression because it can not be confined to material things. Though art maybe be expressed through material things such as pen and paper, the possibilities that the artist can express with these material things are endless.

2. My favorite art form is music. I personally believe that music is the greatest way that one can express emotion of any kind. Emotion can be expressed by the key of the song. Even without lyrics, one can tell the mood of the music by just listening to the music. I feel like music is a stronger version of poetry which has no music behind it. Although poetry is great music adds another element to make it even stronger. Also in music, lyrics aren’t just read but they are sung to match the music further showing the key and therefore the emotion of the music.

3. My academic strength is my dedication to getting my work done and my non-academic strength is my creativity.

4. I am comfortable with new technologies usually because they are a lot like older technologies except with something else added to them. That way i already kind of understand it and i only have to learn the little bit of new stuff. Most technology is similar anyway so i can usually relate new technology to something that already exists.

5. I would rate my writing skills as 8/10. I feel like i am a good writer but there is always room for improvement. I can handle writing essays well and i am also a somewhat good songwriter. However, i think i can still be better.comic book