David Mcgovern Higher Art Prelim

David McGovern – Higher Art Prelim

Section 1 – Art Studies

1.a) The renowned portrait by Paul Cezanne of Victor Chocquet is painted in typical Cezanne fashion, particularly in the way in which the rough brush strokes make for a rich thick texture with the use of warm colours this perhaps reflecting the type of character Choquet was – a warm one. His face seems to be emitting a radiant glow again possibly a reflection on his character. Predominantly warm colours are used on the sitter’s face, a rich mix of deep oranges with hints of yellow and peach tones contribute to the development of his aesthetically warm face. Furthermore the use of greys on the farside of his face give a clear sense of light and shade. The painting overall contains a rather liquid like look enabling a smooth blend of colours on the larger areas such as the face, hair and background. Although the brush strokes are in different directions on different parts of the painting, the variety of shades in each stroke give the painting an almost stained glass look – I feel the large brush strokes really make this painting unique and it combined with the use of colour give the painting a rough texture. The painting also stands out through the use of clear different colours for different areas giving it a clear depth and not just a flat 2D effect. Chocquet’s pose is also key in perhaps portraying character. Although at first glance, Chocquet’s expression may appear bland, on closer inspection he does appear to be compared and almost looks as though he may be trying to hold back from smiling, again possibly a reflection of his character purposely engraved into the painting by Cezanne. Also, the angle Chocquet is painted at works well and gives him a more regal and composed look instead of being painted straight on which may appear more bland and more so a study of his face rather than a portrayal of character.

b) Paul Cezanne, born in 1839 in Aixen Provence in the South of France is now widely recognised as one of the greatest painters of the 19th century and though during his lifetime was mainly unrecognised, it was after his death in 1906 that he began to gain critical appraisal and recognition. He is regarded as a pioneer of post – impressionism although during his lifetime his work was consistently rejected by the elite in Paris and considered himself a failure. Most of his work centred around the idea of him painting exactly what the eye sees although he experimented at times and influenced the cubist movement as well as Pablo Picasso. He was greatly influenced by Camille Pissarro, whom he eventually met and gained a lot from. Cezanne’s subject matter ranged greatly, from almost photographic still life’s, to expressive portraits and captivating landscapes, often of the scenery in which his hometown was situated which was where he died alone in 1096.

Cezanne’s trademark style of portraiture which was at it’s peak in midlife is recognisable by the use of rough large brush strokes, deep warm colours and a particular eye for capturing people, not posed but instead immersed in a task, such as reading, writing or indeed playing cards, apparent in his 1890’s series titled, ‘The Card Players’ An example of his signature portraiture style is apparent in his portrait of Gustav Geffroy. The composition shows Geffroy working at his desk with him surrounded by books of an angular pattern in the background which Cezanne used with the character. He deliberately had Geffroy positioned so that his shape took a pyramid form. Cezanne had a flare for draughtsmanship and precision and so liked his objects to perfectly positioned. He also deliberately left Geffroy’s face unfinished to add an air of mystery to his character another thing Cezanne liked to do was portray people’s character in his paintings.

An example of Cezanne’s earlier work ‘’The Artist’s Father’’ although his style is yet to be defined, the technical blueprint of his later works cane be found although his brushing method is underdeveloped.

Influenced y Picasso and with a flare for portraying character also is credited English contemporarily artist David Hockney. Born in Bradford in 1937, Hockney had a desire to become an artist from age 11 and unlike Cezanne his parents supported this and he eventually attended the Royal College of Art in Londonwhere he greatly experimented with his art and with abstraction. He also defined his style there and discovered his sexuality and from there on was open about his homosexuality. He greatly influenced the Pop Art movement of the 1960’s and artists such as Andy Warhol. He fell in love with

In California in the 1960’s and had moved there by the end of the decade. He has continued to live there until the present day and continues to work in his Hollywood studio. Although his subject matter was greatly varied over the years his style and method have became more defined. Hockney has even embraced modern technology and has created works on the Apple I-Pad in recent years. He mainly painted people he knew, close friends and his parents ‘My Parents’ 1977 is one of Hockney’s more well known pieces and what I believe to be the best of his double portraits. A strong influence can be seen in this painting from his early double ‘’Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy’’ from 1971 particularly in composition and in the painting of large areas such as the room wall. However, I feel ‘’My Parents’’ does more to capture the personality of the characters. The way in which his mother is portrayed sitting patiently posing with gentle smile and the way in which his father is sitting reading a book showing his inability to pose for very long. The subtle tones enable this painting to breathe and we see a lot more in it then when we first glance at it. However, Hockney also displays great ability in detail and this can be particularly seen in ‘’My Mother’’ 1989, a face on close up of his mothers face with very little background. The emphasis is on her face and the physical qualities of it. Dark lines to emphasise wrinkles and a bland expression similar to the one in ‘’My Parents’’.

Both these artists are important in the field of portraiture due to their ability to portray character, experiment but also though their influence on modern art. Cezanne his hailed as one of the first true modern painters.

7.a) The striking design of Abram Games 1942 poster of encouraging Brits to grow their own food is why this poster was successful in communicating a message. The design, which in itself is ahead of its time, features the marriage of the shape of a spade and ship into a single object which in effect splits the page in half. The bright colours and radial pattern make this design particularly eye catching. Such as the splitting into 3 different segments, the sky, the plot of farming land and the sea. The horizontal and vertical contrast of the sea with the land helps to make the poster stand out more as do the large areas of the flat colour utilising Games’ theory of less is more. The emphasis on ‘’Your Own’’ is made clear through the use of colour co-ordination also seen on the ‘’Grow Food’’, reinforcing essentially the same message twice. The layout is especially eye-catching. The centre piece of the ship/spade marriage helps establish a focal point that the eye will first be drawn to and the viewer will be able to read the ‘’use spades not ships’’ slogan. Through the use of symmetry the poster is balanced and the shadow helps guide the eye to the main message at the bottom. Therefore the poster is not chaotic. It is striking but the eye is not offended and is guided smoothly through the piece. Utilising these simple techniques and through the clever merging of shape and object, a simple yet effective design is produced, un-complex and quickly conveys the message.

b) Abram Games, born in London in 1914 is renowned for his poster design which often included the simplification of shapes and a prominent influence of surrealism, particularly Salvador Dali of Jewish Origin Games attended the St Martin College of Art in London. Among his most famous designs include his many wartime propaganda including his renowned ‘’Join the ATS’’ ‘’Blonde Bombshell’’ poster which was deemed too glamorous to be effective. His earlier works was also include his ‘’Grow your own food’’ poster, a clever merge of shape and of layout. Post-war he produced posters for transport and the government informing the public about health and other issues. This includes his ‘’Night and day keeps the cobwebs away’’ poster encouraging children to brush their teeth twice daily. This poster showcases Games’ simplification of the human face to the extremes but to an extent that it would capture the child’s eye more easily. Games’ posters feature simple yet clever designs. One of his clever and one that takes a clear influence from surrealism is his Air Mail poster. In this design he incorporates an open envelope to represent the letters ‘’A’’ and ‘’M’’ and utilised the sticker to be the letter ‘’I’’ in mail. To emphasise flight he tilted the whole design at an angle against the flat background and added a shadow in the shape of a flying bird to create depth and continue the emphasis on flight. Other examples of his integral design theory are his ‘’See Britain by train’’ poster and his London Underground ‘’A train every 90 seconds’’ in with of which incorporates associated imagery into part of the posters message. A common Abram Games technique.

Through around at the same time Bronx born American designer Saul Bass adopted a completely different design method to Abram Games. Born in the same year and of Jewish origin too, these are where the similarities really end for Games and Bass. Bass is most famous for his film poster which span from 1950’s Hitchcock thrillers to films of the 1980’s after this he mainly took on film opening sequences. Among his most famous works are his posters for the 1950’s films ‘’Vertigo’’ and ‘’Anatomy of a murder’’ which hugely feature Bass’ trademark design at the time. Black stylised silhouettes on bold backgrounds. Bass is recognised for revolutionising film posters with graphic imagery and design leaving an element of mystery about the films they were advertising. Prior to this, posters were often illustrations of characters on of climatic events in the film. His ‘’Anatomy of a murder’’ poster is also a pun on the title as it features a mangled corpse split into sections on a blood red background instantly giving viewers an insight into what the film is about. This can also be applied to the ‘’Vertigo’’ poster which features a stylised man’s body silhouette falling into a spiralling white vortex. Again on a vivid red background. This again quickly gives the viewer an idea of what the film is about. Bass’ influence on the film industry is invaluable and why he is important to the history of poster design.